Turnback bedstead-canopy support.



No. 722,883. PATENTED MAR. 17,1903.

- I. E. PALMER.

TURNBAGK BEDSTEAD CANOPY SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1 Emma-m fifznajv'ev'; I 90m 2 $2M m: uowms PETERS co. vno'ro-uwo" vuswmurou. u. c.

No. 722,883. PATBNTBD MAR. 17, 1903.

I. E. PALMER. TURNBAOK BBDSTEAD CANOPY SUPPORT.

APPLICATION PILBD'AUG 29, 1902 N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC E. PALMER, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT.

TU RN BACK BEDSTEAD-CANOPY SUPPORT.

{SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 722,883, dated March 17, 1903.

Application filed August 29, 1902. Serial No. 121,438. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, IsAAo-E. PALMER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Middletown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut,have invented a new and useful Turnback Bedstead-Canopy Support, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a turnback bedsteadcanopy support, with the object in view of providing a simple spring and adjustments for holding the canopy in position for use {and for removing it from its operative position into a collapsed position and with the further object in view-of providing simple and efficient means for connecting the side and cross bars of the canopy-supporting frame and for attaching the canopy itself to the support.

In apparatus to which my present invention relates it has been found that the springs hitherto in use for supporting the canopy have become set by theload imposed upon them, thereby rendering the operation of the support defective and unsuited for the purpose intended.

My present invention is directed to means for avoiding the defects hitherto experienced and producing in a simple and eifective form a spring which will not become set and which may have its tension increased or diminished from time to time, as occasion may require, to render the operation of the support at all times satisfactory and this without materially increasing the expenseof the support-and without complicating the structure.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a view of the support in side elevation, showing it attached-to a bedstead. Fig. 2 is a topplau view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, in side elevation, of the spring and parts adjacent thereto for connecting the support with the bedstead. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a back view of the same. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the spring-hub, showing the spring in position. Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively end and plan views of the springhub. Fig. 9 is a view in detail, showing the improved corner -piece for connecting the side and cross bar of a'frame and at the same time forming means for attaching the canopy to the frame. Fig. 10 represents a modified form of corner-piece with the bar removed, and Figs. 11 and 12 represent, respectively, back and. plan views of a support suited for attachment to round bedposts.

Referring to the form shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, one of the posts at the head of the bedstead is denoted by 1. It has secured thereto a socket-piece (denoted by 2.) In my present arrangement a corresponding socketpiece is to be secured to the post at the opposite end of the head. These socket-pieces have elongated slots 3 in their shanks and perforated ears for the reception of screws to fasten the socket-piece to the back of the post, where the post is wood, and has aflat back. If the post be round-for instance, an iron postthe hook 5, (see Figs. 11 and 12,) with its threaded shank and nut 6, and the angle-faced shoe 7 are used with the socketpiece to clamp the latter to the post, the slot 3 being sufficiently long to'permit the socketpiece to be adjusted to bring the socket 8 nearer to or farther away from the post, as

-may be required, to locate the canopy-supporting spring outside the vertical plane of any post ornaments which might interfere with it.

The canopy-support consists of side bars 9, connected at their outer ends by means of cross-barlO. The inner ends of the members of the side bars 9 adjacent to the'head of the bed are connected to springs 11, which are intended to be duplicates of each other, and hence a description of one-will suffice for a description of both. The spring 11 is a convolute spring, in which thecoils, like the coils of a watch-spring, each pass around the next preceding or inward coil until the outer end is finally projected in a general tangential direction from the coil to the coupling-piece 12, which connects it to the arm or bar 9. The

spring 11 is supported on a hub 14:, mounted on a stud 15, projecting laterally from a plate 16, which plate extends back in the form of branches having lips 17 18 turned at an angle to form side walls of skeleton sockets for retaining one of the uprights 19, which are intended to extend upwardly in proximity to the front of the headboard of the bedstead and are provided at their upper ends with a cross-bar 20 for supporting the head end of the canopy, Another branch of the plate 16, spaced from the branches carrying the lips 17 and 18, is provided with a set-screw 21, arranged to impinge upon the upright 19 to lock it in position either rigidly or permitting it to rock, as may be desired. The upright 19 is provided with a series of indentations 22 for receiving the point of the screw 21 to hold the upright in difierent vertical adjustments. The plate 16 is further provided with a pin tle 23 for entering the socket 8, attached to the head of the bed to hold the casing and the parts carried thereby in proper position with respect to the bedstead, and with a notched sector-bar 24. The sector-bar 24 coacts with a tooth 25 on the branch 26 of the cover-plate 27 to adjust the tension of the spring 11, as follows: One end of the spring 11 is inserted in a slot 28 in the hub 14, whereby the rotary motion of the hub tends to wind or unwind the spring. The end of the hub 14 is provided with a pin 29, adapted to engage some one of a series of holes 30, formed in the cover-plate 27 and arranged concentric with the hub. The cover-plate 27 is held in assembled adjustment with the pin 29 in one of the holes 30 and the tooth 25 in one of the 'notches of the sector-bar 24 by means of a thumb-nut 31, screwed on the end of the stud 15. It is obvious that the notched sector might be continued around to form a 'complete annular flange, if circumstances s0 required it; but I have found at present that it is suflicient to provide a sector only, as this will give ample scope for adjusting the tension of the spring, since the spring may be adjusted to a tension nearly sufficient to perform its work by the connection between the hub and cover-plate, and then the tension may be further modified by the tooth and sector.

The spring 11 is made of fiat wire to give it lateral stability and at the same time make it resilient in the direction in which the side bar moves. As the side bars 9 are swung downwardly under their load the tension on the spring 11 is distributed throughout its coils, one coil finally supporting another adjacent thereto to prevent undue strain on the spring, so that the latter will not be at any time unduly strained, and when after long use the spring shall have become somewhat weakened or in the event the canopy is heavier or lighter than when previously used the tension of the sprin g 11 may be very readily adjusted either to increase or diminish its tension to satisfy the requirements, so that it will readily carry its load back into collapsed position when released.

As a means of providing for fastening the canopy to the supporting-frame at the corners of the frame I provide a corner-piece with two socket portions, (denoted by 32 and 33,) the body of the corner-piece intermediate of the socket portions 32 and 33 being pro vided with a portion 34, having, for example, either an open recess 35, as shown in Fig. 9, or a closed recess or perforation 36, as shown in Fig. 10, for receiving a cord 37, with which the canopy may be tied to the corner-piece. The socket portion 32 may be swaged permanently to the side bar 9 of the frame, and the socket portion 33 may be swaged to a mandrel corresponding to the size of the cross-bar which connects the two side frames and the mandrel then removed to enable the crossbar to be inserted in its place when the parts are assembled. The cross-bar will be held in position when the parts are assembled by means of the canopy fabric secured to the cover-pieces and may be removed when the canopy is removed for the purpose of knocking down the frame.

What I claim is 1. The combination with the supportingpiece for a turnback canopy, of a canopysupporting frame, a convolute spring having a plurality ofsuperposed coils, the outer end of the spring being coupled to the side bar of the canopy-supporting frame and the inner end of the spring attached to the said supporting-piece, primary means for adjusting the tension of the spring and secondary means for further adjusting the tension of the spring.

2. The combination with a supportingpiece for a turnback canopy, a hub mounted in rotary adjustment on said piece, a plate mounted to rotate concentric with the hub and means for locking the hub in different rotary adjustments relative to the plate, of a canopy-supporting frame, a convolute spring encircling the hub and having its outer end coupled to the side bar of the frame and its inner end attached to the hub and means for locking the said plate and hub in different adj ust-ments relative to their support.

3. The combination with means forsupporting the canopy-frame in swinging adjustment, of the canopy-frame including side bars and a cross-bar and a corner-piece attached to the side bar of the frame and constructed to receive the end of the cross-bar, said cornerpiece being provided intermediate its ends with means for attaching the canopy thereto.

4. The canopy-frame including a cornerpiece, side bars and a cross-bar, the said corner-piece being provided with sockets for receiving the end of the side bar and the end of the cross-bar and with means intermediate of the sockets for the attachment of the canopy thereto whereby the cross-bar is held by the canopy in assembled adjustment with the side bar.

5. The combination with a supporting-piece for a turnback canopy provided with spaced lips to form a seat for an upright standard, of a canopy-supporting frame having its side bar extended in the form of a convolute spring and attached to the said supporting-piece, an upright bar having limited rocking movement intermediate said spaced lips and means for locking the said standard in rocking adj ustment intermediate of said spaced lips.

6. The combination withasupporting-piece for a turnback canopy provided with a toothed sector and with spaced lips for receiving an upright standard, of a canopy-supporting frame having its side bar extended in the form of a convolute spring and attached to the said supporting-piece, a rocking plate for adjusting the tension on the spring, the said plate being provided with a tooth arranged to engage one or another of the notches in the sectorbar and means for holding the said plate in position.

7. The combination with a supporting-piece for a turnback canopy provided with a pin- ISAAC E. PALMER.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, C. S. SUNDGREN. 

